Where No Zeppo Has Gone Before
by Starway Man
Summary: Xander ends up somewhere very unexpected, as does Cordelia, thanks to a member of the Q Continuum. (COMPLETE)
1. Exeunt

**Date written: **Sun 24 Mar 2013

**Authors:** Nodakskip and Starway Man

**Email:** nodakskip at aol dot com, theop at hotkey dot net dot au

**Rating:** PG-13

**Disclaimer: **The BtVS and Angel characters aren't ours, and neither are the Star Trek ones; they all belong to their respective owners. Part of this story is taken directly from the BtVS episode 'The Wish' and the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode 'Sacrifice of Angels', and so belongs to the writers in question.

**Category:** AU, Action, Adventure, Angst, Crossover, Romance

**Acknowledgments: **Major thanks to Greywizard for beta'ing this story.

**Author Notes:** This fanfic contains various Star Trek crossovers, including the DS9 one set during the Dominion war. Especially the battle seen in the episodes 'Favor the Bold' and 'Sacrifice of Angels'.

**Main characters**: Xander, ensemble

**Feedback:** As they say, it's the coin of the realm. So please tell us what you thought of it.

**Summary: **Xander ends up somewhere very unexpected, as does Cordelia, thanks to a member of the Q Continuum.

**Title:** Where No Zeppo Has Gone Before

* * *

**Part One: Exeunt**

**Sunnydale High School, Sunnydale, California**

**December 1st, 1998**

If there was one thing Alexander 'Xander' Harris was sure of, it was that his life SUCKED.

His life had always sucked in one way or another, granted. Harris had been born and raised in a town that was Vampire Central, where people constantly disappeared due to the 'night life' infesting this suburb north of Los Angeles. Plus, he had a pair of top-of-the-line uncaring alcoholic parents. Not to mention his grades at school were never exactly the best. And he'd been regarded as a loser geek by his peers, even before high school had started.

The ironic thing was that, ever since sophomore year, Xander had actually thought his life was getting better. He'd made it to his senior year of high school, alive and in one piece. He'd helped stop a number of world-ending apocalypses. His best friends, Buffy Summers and Willow Rosenberg, the Vampire Slayer and an expert computer hacker, had survived along with him and were blossoming into vibrant and beautiful young women.

And hard as it was to believe sometimes, Xander had even gotten himself a girlfriend: the one and only Cordelia Chase. The richest, hottest-looking girl in Sunnydale High.

But since this was Sunnydale – home of the Hellmouth, no less – and since he was a Harris, it was pretty much inevitable that something had to go wrong and screw up completely. In this case, it had been Xander cheating on Cordelia with Willow for over a month, and finally getting caught in the act last week.

Not to mention his now ex-girlfriend falling through a basement flight of stairs, and almost getting killed after being impaled by a rusty rebar through her stomach.

( _Why?_ ) Xander asked himself, and not for the first time. ( _Why did all that happen? Why couldn't I control myself around Willow? For that matter, why couldn't I stop myself from hurting the people I care about? Not only Cordelia, but Oz as well! __Guy's a rockin' musician, and pretty much the definition of cool. What the hell was I thinking, fooling around with his girl..._ )

What, indeed? And if Xander had been a little less upset and a bit more suspicious in nature, he might very well have wondered whether there was more to all this than just him and Willow acting like hormonal idiots since October.

After all, it was more than somewhat amazing how Willow's boyfriend had been aimlessly driving around the streets of Sunnydale in his van, along with Cordelia – and then the werewolf had suddenly caught a stray whiff of his girlfriend in the air. Especially given that Oz had never even hinted that he could do anything like that before, in all of the months he'd been hanging around the Scooby Gang.

And then, when both Oz and Cordelia had come racing into that abandoned factory basement to rescue their significant others...they had somehow arrived at the very moment Willow and Xander had chosen to make out, due to their impending death situation. Broadcasting their betrayal at the worst time ever, and causing Cordelia to be injured in such a way that she wouldn't even consider forgiving Harris for his infidelity.

Bottom line, all that had stretched chance or coincidence or whatever you wanted to call it...just a little bit beyond belief.

"Hey, Xander," Buffy said brightly, as she and Willow came over to the bench Harris was sitting on. "What's up?"

"Nothing much, Buff," Xander shrugged, as his two best friends sat down. "Hi, Will."

"Hi," the redhead said with as much enthusiasm as she could muster. Which wasn't much, to be honest.

"What's up with you two?" Xander asked curiously, turning to see the girls staring at him.

"Uh, you didn't hear what happened last night?" Buffy briefly looked surprised.

"No, what?" the young man frowned.

"Um, Buffy had to take Cordelia to the hospital. There was a fight with a vampire outside the Bronze, and Buff slayed – but Cordy pulled her stitches when it crashed into her during the battle," Willow semi-babbled.

"Is she okay?" Xander asked worriedly, looking around before relaxing somewhat. He had just spied his ex talking with some girl he didn't know, not all that far away, and so had already figured out the answer to his question.

"Yeah," Buffy sighed. "Cordelia was kinda pissed at me for ending up in that dumpster, actually, but I figure she'll get over it. Eventually. She's in a pretty bad place right now, so we gotta make allowances and all that."

"I know," Willow nodded. "Oh, I betcha she's gonna have issues about what happened last week for a loooong time. Just like Oz. Personally, I just wish I could get him to talk to me again..."

Interestingly, the neophyte witch's wish was about to come true; primarily because it was almost time for the so-called engines of destiny to explode into little pieces.

All of it thanks to one utterly infuriated, somewhat amoral and almost god-like individual.

* * *

**Not far from the main quad**

**A short while earlier**

The enraged higher being known as Q Junior struggled to calm down, having just departed the higher dimension which was the home of the so-called Powers That Be. And the creature which, soon enough, planned to call itself 'Jasmine'.

Q Junior had good reason to be angry, and not just from the recent meeting with the rogue Power. Conceived during the Q Civil War, Q Junior's original purpose had been to restore the status quo and end the conflict within the higher realm known as the Q Continuum. It – or rather he, as Q Junior chose to emulate a male appearance – was someone who had been born to be a figurehead for both factions within the Continuum to get behind, in order to put a stop to all the violence.

Unfortunately, although everyone had held great hopes for Q Junior as the 'savior' of the Continuum, those high expectations had had a very negative effect on the youth's attitude. Instead of a knight in shining armor, Q Junior had rapidly become an obnoxious, spoiled, disruptive teenage brat; and he completely lacked all of the qualities needed to inspire the much-needed peace and compassion within the Continuum.

So much so, that even his own mother had abandoned him.

Frustrated with his son, Q Junior's father had seen to it his offspring had learned a valuable lesson in humility and self-sacrifice with the aid of some human acquaintances, lost in the Delta Quadrant of the Milky Way galaxy. In addition, Q Junior – who had faced the terrifying prospect of being transformed into an Oprelian amoeba or, at best, into a powerless human – had learned that his father had decided to take responsibility for his son's actions for all eternity, in return for the Q collective restoring his powers.

( _I'll justify your faith in me, Father,_ ) Q Junior thought to himself, as he made his way towards someone he had learned was very important to human history. ( _Of course, I know you won't approve of me putting the wrong things right this way, but if you had met that so-called Jasmine person – I'm sure you would be tempted to do this, yourself!_ )

Not far away from the godling, the human-looking vengeance demon Anyanka, who was using the undercover name of 'Anya Jenkins', said to her client, "Are you okay?"

Cordelia Chase, who had been targeted by Jasmine to eventually give birth to the renegade Power in about five years, replied, "Oh, I just pulled some stitches last night. Know why?" Cordy looked in the direction of the Vampire Slayer, "Surprise. It was all Buffy's fault!"

At that moment, not far away, the girl named Harmony Kendall and her troop were subtly distracted by Q Junior – and so Anyanka followed Cordelia's gaze, and saw Buffy, Willow and Xander sitting together on their bench. ( _Oh, yes, the unfaithful male and the little hussy he was running around with. Good, excellent!_ )

Smirking to herself, Anyanka said craftily, "I don't get it."

"What? I already told you – when that girl moved here back in sophomore year, that's when all my troubles started!" Cordelia winced in pain and held her side; she was still badly hurt after getting impaled by that rebar. "If it wasn't for Buffy..."

"You'd have been dead half a dozen times over by now? Yes, of course, we all know that!"

Both Anyanka and Cordelia turned around to see what looked like a typical male teenager standing there, dressed in expensive designer clothes. The vengeance demon's eyes went wide at sensing Q Junior's power, though, and 'Anya' instantly vanished from sight; she knew that granting a Wish to make her quota for this month definitely wasn't worth tangling with a member of the Q Continuum.

Primarily because Anyanka understood that with his powers, Q Junior could erase her from existence with just a thought, if she annoyed him in any way at all.

"So who the hell are you?" Cordelia asked, before abruptly noticing that 'Anya' had disappeared. "Hey, where did-"

"Your demon friend sensed who I am, and very wisely decided to leave," Q Junior interrupted, knowing what Cordelia was about to ask.

"Demon-?" Cordy's eyes went wide, figuring this guy knew about vamps and demons and so there was no need to pretend otherwise. "Oh, geez. A girl's not even safe on the school campus anymore!" Then she returned her gaze to Q Junior. "So who are you, anyway?"

"Someone who's become interested in you. Call me Q," the higher being smirked.

"Q? What kind of a name is that, outside of a James Bond film?" Cordelia asked sarcastically.

Q Junior raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you even going to ask me why I'm here?"

Cordelia exhaled wearily. "Fine. Why are you here?"

"Well, believe it or not, I've come to help you. You and your former consort...but not here, and not now." With that, Q Junior snapped his fingers and the next moment, Cordelia's entire world went white.

* * *

**Close by Lake Sunnydale, California**

**Stardate 31963.7**

Cordelia materialized with a burst of white light, dazed and disoriented as she struggled to get her bearings. She suddenly noticed that the pain from her stitches had vanished and, quickly examining herself, the female teen saw the injury from the rebar was gone – without even a scratch to show she'd ever been injured. "What the – what happened?" Cordy then looked around, "And where am I?"

"Exactly where you were, give or take a few miles." Q Junior's voice made her whirl around, and then Cordelia gasped as she saw the huge lake behind him, dammed off by a thin strip of land from the ocean. "Welcome to the 24th century."

"The WHAT?" Cordelia demanded, backing away from this obvious freaky weirdo. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm sure you're not deaf, and there's no point indulging in denial at this point in your life," Q Junior said rather arrogantly and condescendingly. "You're just outside the former Sunnydale city limits, and today is May 29th, 2354 by your calendar – although the locals prefer using their interstellar stardate system, just so you know."

"What?" Cordelia said numbly. "You, you can't be serious, this can't be..."

"This can't be happening? Come now. This from someone who constantly complains, 'Why me? Why do _**I**_ get impaled? Why do _**I **_get bitten by snakes? Why do _**I**_ fall for incredible losers?'" Q Junior imitated Cordelia's voice perfectly, before going back to his own. "So if all that is what's been typical of your life since you met the Slayer...then why should this be any different?" Q Junior asked, the smirk on his face growing with every passing moment.

Cordelia got mad, suddenly deciding that this had to be all Buffy's fault somehow. "Look, if you've got a beef with that bottle-blonde freakazoid, leave ME out of it! Just send me home!"

Q Junior shook his head and snapped his fingers again, and in another blaze of white light Xander and the British Watcher known as Rupert Giles appeared.

"What the..." both males started to say in unison.

"Giles! I never thought I'd say this, but am I glad to see you," Cordelia rushed over the Englishman and gave him a desperate hug, before letting Rupert go.

"Wha – Cordy? Where are we?" Xander looked around at the trees and the lake in confusion.

Not surprisingly, Miss Chase ignored her cheater ex completely. "Come on, Giles, DO something! Make this guy send us home already!"

"What? Home?" Giles looked utterly confused towards the brunette, before gesturing at Q Junior. "Cordelia, who-who is this person?"

"I don't know! He calls himself Q or R or some other stupid letter of the alphabet – and he said that the date today was May 29th, 2354!" Cordy said in exasperation – just before Giles and Q Junior both vanished from sight in another burst of white light.

"What the HELL is going on here?" Xander demanded. Just a few seconds ago, he'd been seated on that school bench talking to Buffy and Willow – and now, here he was alone with the girl who practically loathed him, in the middle of nowhere.

"I DON'T KNOW!" Cordelia screamed back at him. "GILES? Anybody?"

At that moment, there was a burst of smoke and lightning, and a black box materialized on the ground in front of the two teenagers. Hesitantly, Xander picked it up and saw that there was a card attached above a big red button. The note simply said, "PRESS ME."

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Cordelia's voice distracted Harris. "Press the button, already!"

Somewhat surprised not to hear the usual venom in her tone, Xander said to the Chase girl, "So, how do we know it won't kill us or something, if I do that?"

"Oh, sorry – guess I forgot how I just got stranded here with a complete LOSER!" Cordy sneered at her male companion. "Come on, what are the odds of that happening under these circumstances? No way I could be that lucky in getting rid of you!"

"Fine. But if this thing blows up in our faces, Cordy? Put me down for a big fat 'I told you so'," Xander sniped back at her before pressing the button.

There was a whining noise, and a beam of light was projected out of an orifice on the top of the box. Both Xander and Cordelia gasped as they saw a hologrammatic image of the good old Scooby Gang – the emphasis on 'old' being rather apt.

"Xander, Cordelia, hello. Hopefully, Willow's spell has worked and this, this confounded contraption has made its way safely into your hands," the white-haired Rupert Giles said with a slight wheeze, his hand resting on the thirty-something Buffy's shoulder.

"If not, whoever's watching this right now – you may as well quit viewing this message, because this is a private farewell between friends," the thirty-something Willow added with what looked like a sad look on her face.

( _Private farewell?_ ) Cordelia thought in horror.

( _Oh God, no..._ ) Xander likewise thought at the same time.

"Xander, Cordelia, believe it or not – we've been trying to bring you back for nearly twenty years," Oz commented, looking just as old as his former classmates; and having lived a VERY different life than what he otherwise would have.

"But now, we have to give up on doing that," Buffy said painfully.

"What? Why?" Xander had a justifiably freaked look on his face, just like Cordelia did.

"You're probably wondering why. And the short answer is, this world is now a very different place from what you remember...thanks to the Augments," Angel's recorded image shook its head, still looking like the same 26-year-old vampire the temporally displaced pair had known – even though he had recently been granted his shanshu by the Powers That Be, and finally become human.

"Augments?" Xander muttered to himself.

"Genetically engineered supermen, in case you were wondering. They started what's become known as the Eugenics Wars, and from now on, we have to completely focus on saving what little of humanity we can," Angel finished up.

Oz continued the story, "And even if that wasn't a consideration, the truth is, all our efforts have been blocked since day one. That Q guy who sent you to the future – he wanted you to stay there."

"I'm so sorry, Xander. You too, Cordelia," Willow said apologetically, grabbing hold of Oz's hand. "You don't know how incredibly sorry I am, especially after all the time and effort we've put into trying to get you two back, but the fact is – this is goodbye. The odds are certain we won't live all that much longer, not after what the Khans have managed to accomplish lately. The genocide, the...not long ago, that Q person showed up and told us that we could send this farewell message to you two, but that's it; and luckily, we've never forgotten the date which Giles said Cordelia mentioned, when he arrived back on that day during 1998."

"I know this is gonna be impossible for you to accept, Xander, but you and Cordelia are stuck there together in the future – and we can't help you, damn it. Like it or not, we've failed. And at this point in time, all we can do is wish you two all the best, in your own personal futures," Buffy said sadly, grabbing Angel's hand. "Goodbye."

"Bye," Willow, Oz, Angel and Giles all echoed with varying degrees of sadness, before the hologram projection switched itself off.

"No, no way," Xander shook his head in complete denial as he threw away the projector and it smashed apart. "This is insane. Or a trick, or – this is not happening!"

"Xander..." Cordelia trailed off, looking uncertain.

"THIS IS NOT HAPPENING!" Xander insisted, utterly refusing to acknowledge that he had been permanently cut off from the people that he loved and considered family, in spirit if not blood.

"Xander, someone's coming!" Cordelia shouted, grabbing hold of her ex-boyfriend tightly. Right now, he was the most familiar thing in the entire universe to her; and the young woman had honestly forgotten that she was supposed to be mad at Harris for betraying her trust that way.

Instinctively, Xander shoved Cordy behind him as the vehicle heading towards them slowed down and came to a stop. Calming down after his recent rant, he babbled, "Okay, okay, let's not panic..."

"That's easy for you to say!" Cordelia griped, as she quickly changed her mind and decided she wouldn't hide behind the unfaithful male, moving to stand at his side instead.

Benjamin Lafayette Sisko, recent graduate of Starfleet Academy, got out of the car along with his girlfriend, Jennifer. The pair had met earlier this year at Gilgo Beach, and had fallen in love almost straightaway. While still waiting for Sisko's first assignment, soon enough they would move to Benjamin's new posting at New Berlin.

Ben took one look at the clothes Xander and Cordelia were wearing and asked, "Can we help you two, maybe?"

TBC...


	2. Listen & Learn

See Part One for disclaimer and details. Hello everyone, and welcome to the second chapter of the story! Wow, we were never expecting so many reviews and so much feedback when this story was submitted for publication; thank you, everyone, for that. It's mighty appreciated! Now, just to make it clear, there will be some ST: Next Generation crossover in this story as well as the ST:DS9 one, so don't be surprised if the characters from that show make an appearance. It's necessary to the development of the story, in terms of the overall plot arc we have in mind. Anyway, enough about that; please enjoy...

* * *

**Part Two: Listen & Learn**

**Starfleet Academy, San Francisco**

**Stardate 36554.3**

It had been almost exactly five years since she had arrived into the future, and the newly graduated Starfleet cadet Cordelia Chase (class of 2359) was sitting alone at the bar, toying listlessly with her drink – while the rest of her Academy classmates were celebrating the fact that classes were over, and their careers were about to begin.

Her thoughts drifting back and forth, Cordelia somewhat despondently acknowledged to herself how she used to think often of the ones that she and Xander left behind on the Hellmouth; but not so much, nowadays. Enough time had passed, and both of them were no longer teenage kids, but fully grown adults. Adults that had grown up here, instead of Sunnydale or Los Angeles...

Which wasn't to say that both Xander and Cordelia hadn't tried to return home; in fact, the one-time odd couple of Sunnydale High had tried everything they could think of to return to 1998, after explaining everything to Ben and Jennifer and then the Federation's Department of Temporal Investigations. There had been quite a variety of time travel technologies to choose from...

Such as a sling-shot maneuver in a starship around the sun at relativistic speeds. Exposure to chroniton particles in a Starfleet research laboratory. Experiments with metreon radiation at the Daystrom Research Institute. Even a journey to the Forever world, to plead their case before the Guardian of Forever.

But none of it had worked; like Oz had said in that recording, Q Junior had wanted Cordelia and Xander to stay in the 24th century and it was pointless attempting to accomplish otherwise. So however reluctantly, both of them had eventually tried to integrate into the futuristic society they'd found themselves stuck in, getting over their checkered past and clinging to each other as their last remaining link to home.

At first, compared to where they'd come from, Cordelia had thought this brave new world was a virtual paradise; there were no vampires or demons or magic anymore, and no Slayers, either. All the Potentials had been activated by Willow back in 2003 using the Slayer Scythe, and once the last of them were gone, the Chosen line had been extinguished. Much to Cordelia's astonishment, even the Watchers Council didn't really exist anymore, even though she and Xander had eventually made contact with the inheritors of the organization. The new version which Buffy and Giles had founded back in the early 21st century, that is, after the old one had gone the way of the dinosaurs.

( _And what a crowd they were,_ ) Cordelia thought to herself, abruptly recalling that meeting in London. ( _Those so-called Watchers really were nothing but a bunch of manipulative politicians! Okay, so they helped me get into the Academy, for which I'm kinda grateful. But none of them had ever seen a demon, let alone a vampire, and some of them hadn't even believed that magic once existed on this planet. Compared to them, Xander and I were the freaking experts on that sort of stuff! So God help us all, if the demons ever come back..._ )

"May I join you?" Cordelia heard someone say, as she turned around to stare at the new arrival. The medium-height black female with the huge hat, someone who the old Cordelia would have foamed at the mouth to insult for as long as possible, seemed very calm and relaxed.

"Yeah, I guess," Cordelia shrugged as the black woman sat down.

"My name is Guinan," the woman introduced herself. "And you are?"

"Cordelia Chase," Cordy said, before indulging in a sip of her drink.

"Pleasure to meet you," Guinan replied noncommittally, before she added, "Pardon me if I'm being rude, but you look a little...lost. If you'd like to talk about it, I'm told I'm a good listener." The black woman smiled for a moment at her private joke; her species, the El-Aurians, were colloquially known as Listeners throughout the Federation.

"I'm fine, it's just..." Cordelia trailed off.

"Just what?"

"Well, it's my Graduation day, and I just thought – okay, I HOPED Xander would show up for the big event," Cordelia admitted.

"Xander?" Guinan asked, leaning her elbow against the bar.

"My boyfriend. Former boyfriend, that is," Cordelia quickly corrected herself. For some reason she didn't understand, the young woman then told Guinan her life's story. How she and Harris had arrived here from 1998; how they'd met the Sisko's; how the two time travellers had spent a few months in the custody of the DTI; how, after she and Xander had accepted that they were stuck in this era, she had decided to become a Starfleet officer – all of it, apart from that meeting with the Watchers Council.

"That's quite a tale," Guinan nodded slowly, recalling how she had first met the time-travelling Jean-Luc Picard and his crew back in 1893, just a few miles from here. "I'm curious about something, though."

"What?" Cordelia asked, staring at her.

"How did you ever manage to get into Starfleet Academy? No offense, but I know for a fact just how difficult the entrance exams are, even for natives of the 24th century. For someone with a 20th century background like yourself...well, either your IQ must be completely off the scale, or else I'm missing something," Guinan said tranquilly.

Cordelia sighed; she had had this conversation more than once over the past four years, and had had to deal with the pity stares because of when she'd been born. "After Xander and I were brought here by that kid calling himself Q-"

"Q?" Guinan interrupted, straightening up at once.

"Yeah. You know him, too?" Cordelia said with a look of astonishment. So far, no one she and Xander had encountered in this time had ever heard of Q Junior or his kind.

"We've met," Guinan said vaguely, mistaking Q's son for his father. "Suffice to say, it wasn't a pleasant experience. But go on?"

Cordelia nodded and said, "Well, as best as I can figure, he must have given Xander and me some sort of...knowledge upgrade, or whatever you want to call it. Whatever Q actually did, it made us the equivalent of 18-year-old kids in this day and age, according to the Starfleet investigators – who tested us nonstop back then, for nearly a month."

Guinan shrugged. ( _Given what I know of Q's so-called sense of humor, that shouldn't actually surprise me._ ) "I see. May I ask another question?"

"Sure, what?"

"Why did you ever decide to join Starfleet in the first place? I doubt it was just for the chance to boldly go where no one has gone before," Guinan asked with a perfectly straight face.

"Xander talked me into it," the Chase woman said with a smile, recalling that particular conversation; which had taken place several months after their arrival, AFTER she'd finally forgiven him for the illicit smoochies with Willow, and the rebar. "I've always been someone willing to fight to get what I want and to get ahead, ya see, and the big goofball figured that the discipline from the Academy's instructors would help mold me into the best person I could be. So Xander sat me down and eventually convinced me to go for it, after we went through the pro's and con's for nearly two hours."

"And he didn't want to apply himself?" Guinan asked.

"Oh, heck no!" Cordelia laughed. "When I asked him why, the big dummy said something about how, with his luck, Starfleet would reinvent the poop deck just in order for him to clean it. So Xander decided to spend his time travelling and seeing the sights, while I was studying here in San Francisco. We meet every so often, though. I mean, SOMEONE has to tell the dork that his fashion sense still needs a lot of work!"

"You still care about him, obviously. So if it's not too much of a personal question, why is this Xander Harris person your former boyfriend?" the Listener asked.

Cordelia looked somewhat confused, turning to stare at the black woman. "What?"

"Well, I could be wrong, but just from the way I've heard you talk about him? It seems to me that you'd like nothing better than to get him back," Guinan observed while taking a sip of her replicated drink, which the bartender had recently delivered.

That statement made the Chase woman examine feelings she'd thought she'd buried and forgotten years ago. "I..."

"Hey. Sorry it took me so long to get here, Cor," the twenty-something Xander abruptly showed up with a big smile on his face. "You looked fantastic during the graduation ceremony, by the way!"

"XANDER!" Cordelia immediately leapt up off her seat. She slapped Harris across the face, "That was for making me think you weren't gonna show up today!" Then Cordelia kissed her former boyfriend hard on the mouth, grabbing him tightly. "And that was for coming here for my big day!"

Xander looked both confused and happy, something not all that unusual where his ex-girlfriend was concerned. "Yeah, okay..."

"Hhhh-hmmm," Guinan softly cleared her throat, reminding Xander and Cordelia that she was still present. "I take it you're Xander Harris?"

"OH! Yeah, where are my manners? Xander, this is Guinan. We only just met, but she's one heck of a good listener," Cordelia said hurriedly.

"Hi," Harris inclined his head to the female El-Aurian, giving the woman an evaluating look.

"Cordelia, it's Lieutenant Mathews; report to the commandant's office right away," the Starfleet cadet's com-badge chirped before relaying the man's message. The Academy instructor then added, "Commander Ross wants to meet with you."

"DAMN!" Cordelia cursed, acknowledging the summons before turning to her ex-boyfriend. "Xander, will you wait here for me? Hopefully, this shouldn't take too long..."

"Whatever you want, Cor," Xander smiled as his former girlfriend hurried off.

"You love her, don't you?" Guinan asked calmly, causing Harris to turn back to look at the alien woman in surprise. "Or maybe I should say, you still love her. And after listening to what Cordelia had to say about your lives, both here and in Sunnydale, I honestly couldn't help wondering why you two aren't together that way."

"It's complicated. And you're an El-Aurian, aren't you? The people called Listeners?" Xander asked as he settled into Cordelia's chair, at the same time as Guinan nodded. "Well, I thought you guys listened, not questioned?"

"Curiosity. A characteristic my father could never understand, and which drove me to explore this astonishing universe – ever since I was young," Guinan said calmly, taking another quick gulp of her drink.

"Right. Well, I guess that helps explain why you're not like the other people I've met over the past five years," Xander shrugged, before signaling the blue-skinned bartender to come over.

Guinan raised an eyebrow at that, as the man asked Xander for his order. She then raised the other eyebrow as, after Harris asked what was good around here, the Andorian offered him a wide variety of synthehol; all of which the former Slayerette firmly rejected.

"Good Godfrey Cambridge, why the hell do they even call it a bar – if you can't actually get a real drink in this place?" Xander asked in disgust, after the barman left.

"Tradition. And as for the second part, most people nowadays prefer not suffering the drawbacks associated with drinking real alcohol. They consider it a more civilized way," Guinan answered the rhetorical question.

"Yeah, well, if you ask me, they can shove their so-called 'civilized way' up their collective asses," Xander growled angrily, recalling the 'We work to better ourselves' slogan he'd heard from so many people in this era. "You wanna know what I see, when I look at just about everyone in this so-called bar? A bunch of stuck-up snobs! People who believe that anyone from before First Contact with the Vulcans was an ignorant barbarian – at best. So, I figure eventually they'll encounter something out there which'll change their arrogant attitude, show them that they're not the enlightened people of the Golden Age or whatever; but if and when it happens, I hope I'm not around to see it. 'Cause the consequences AREN'T gonna be pretty."

The memories of Sunnydale suddenly came to the fore of his mind, and Harris wondered yet again what had eventually happened to all his friends from the 20th century. Nobody knew, not even the Council people in London. Which really wasn't that surprising, given that virtually all the records had been lost after the Hellmouth had collapsed into the earth during 2003 and the Eugenics Wars had ravaged the planet, and then the nuclear holocaust of World War Three had taken place during the mid-21st century.

In fact, the only person the Watchers of the 24th century had been familiar with from those days was a man named Andrew Wells. Someone who had lived well into his eighties, and was generally regarded as one of the founding fathers and leading lights of the organization; a Watcher of the highest repute.

The fact that in his youth, Andrew had murdered his best friend named Jonathan Levinson, was neither here nor there as far as the history books were concerned.

"It sounds to me like you aren't happy here," Guinan said to Xander knowingly. "And those who are as unhappy as you are, usually act that way because they've lost something. Do you want to tell me what you've lost?"

"My friends. My purpose. My life, in a way," Xander said shortly. And if Cordelia had been present at that moment, she would have been able to tell that Harris was referring to Buffy and Willow; two people he still missed terribly, despite everything that had happened over the past five years.

"Interesting. Did you know that once upon a time, demons and vampires and magic existed on this world?" Guinan asked, and then she nodded at Xander's astonished look. "Yes, I can see you do. And the reason I knew that is because I was present on this planet nearly five hundred years ago, and I saw them all for myself. Long after I left this world, though, they vanished. I eventually heard legends of a great battle led by a young woman, who was responsible for banishing such things from this dimension. Afterwards, I imagine, she and her allies would have had to find a new purpose in life. A new path, to replace the one from before."

"So what are you saying? That if this 'young woman' and her friends could do it, why can't I? Sorry, but it's not that simple," Xander said moodily.

"That's your self-pity talking, I suspect," Guinan riposted. "And even though we've only just met, I'd say that there's a lot you could offer the human society of this era."

"Such as?"

"Insight. You and your former girlfriend have a unique perspective on things, given your origins," Guinan said placidly. "For example, you're right in thinking that most people on Earth nowadays are somewhat contemptuous of their ancestors. But then, what else would you expect from individuals who have never known war, or disease, or starvation? Oh, I'll grant you Starfleet's sociologists THINK that they understand such things. But the truth is, they understand them about as well as that android named Data understands emotions. Which is to say, not at all."

"Data?" Xander stared at Guinan. "Huh, I think I've heard of that guy from somewhere. You've met him?"

"In a manner of speaking," the female Listener let her lips twitch slightly. "But to return to our previous topic, I'd say that if you put your mind to it, you could have quite the career in the Federation's Diplomatic Corps. As a trouble-shooter, I'd expect – especially with regard to races like the Ferengi."

"The Ferengi?" Xander asked quizzically, never having heard of that name before. Which wasn't surprising; even though some members of that species had tried to rob the 'Enterprise' NX-01 nearly two centuries ago, they had escaped with none of the crew knowing who they were, and the Ferengi had mostly avoided the Federation ever since. Plus, Q Junior's 'knowledge upgrade' did have its limits.

"The Ferengi. They're greedy, misogynistic, untrustworthy, and I wouldn't turn my back on one of them for a second. Nonetheless, I think you'll find them interesting," Guinan replied to Xander's question, having encountered Ferenginar's inhabitants during her travels. "You might even find them a people you could relate to, given the huge number of crooked businessmen the 20th century was reputed to contain. And if you mention to them the existence of Wall Street, and what it represented back then..."

Suddenly getting a bad feeling about this, Guinan then abruptly got up and excused herself, leaving Xander behind – who just stared at the departing El-Aurian in bemusement. Still, it wasn't long before Cordelia came back; and the two former lovebirds spent the next few weeks together, before Ensign Chase was shipped off to her first posting in New Berlin, on Earth's Moon.

Kind of like Benjamin and Jennifer Sisko way back when, oddly enough.

* * *

**USS ****Fredrickson, ****NCC-42111**

**Stardate 41198.8**

Another five years had passed, and just a few hours earlier, Xander had found it rather astonishing that he was now 28 years old.

A lot had happened over the past half-decade. For example, Xander and Cordelia had engaged in a brief fling during their stay in New Berlin, before she had been transferred to serve aboard the 'Endeavour'. And after a lot of wandering and soul searching, not to mention educating the Watchers Council on all their misunderstandings, Harris had decided to follow Guinan's advice on what sort of career path to pursue in the 24th century.

That was the primary reason why Xander was different now, compared to what he'd been like during that meeting at Starfleet Academy. He was older, calmer, more focused. He was also less scornful of other people's attitudes, and with a fairly wide knowledge base, thanks to his travels throughout Federation space.

Not that there weren't days when Harris wondered if he was crazy for joining the Federation Diplomatic Corps – he'd almost gotten kicked out twice so far, given that his ideas on how to resolve diplomatic incidents were not exactly in line with those of his superiors – but Xander had nonetheless persevered and stuck with the job. Mostly due to a VERY influential person; not to mention, the first friend Harris had made in this time.

"Ambassador Sarek," Xander greeted his mentor, as the elderly Vulcan entered the turbolift.

"Alexander Harris. Bridge," Sarek acknowledged the human's greeting, then directed the ship's computer as to their destination.

"I hope you won't take this the wrong way, sir, but you don't look well," Xander said candidly, knowing that Sarek appreciated blunt honesty; at least, in private between the two of them. "Are you sure you're up for this?"

"Yes," Sarek nodded once, even though he had recently started wondering just how healthy he really was. The Vulcan had no idea that he would soon be diagnosed with Bendii Syndrome, and eventually die at the ripe old age of 203; but even if he had known, it would have made no difference to Sarek's mind.

He had a job to do down below on the Ferengi homeworld, and he intended to do it.

Xander and Sarek soon stepped out of the turbolift onto the ship's bridge, and the human and the Vulcan were quickly greeted by the ship's captain and Ambassador Hawkins, Xander's immediate boss. But then a hail from the incoming Ferengi ship cut the conversation short.

The captain said from his command chair, "Put it on screen."

The image of a short humanoid with orange-brown colored skin, blue fingernails, an enlarged four-lobed skull, a wrinkled nose, and sharp teeth appeared before the bridge crew. The Ferengi said with a slight hiss, "I am Daimon Chudak. What do you want, hew-mon?"

The captain introduced himself, before he gestured to Sarek to take over. The head diplomat said, "We are here representing the United Federation of Planets, on the matter of the Ferengi Alliance's recent actions concerning the Orion crime syndicate. It is my understanding that we have an appointment with the leader of the Ferengi people, the Grand Nagus Zek, to discuss the situation."

"The Nagus is busy at the moment. Far too busy to meet with a cash-poor Vahl-cahn," Daimon Chudak replied sneeringly.

"Then could we possibly meet with the Ferengi named Derro?" Ambassador Hawkins asked, trying to ignore how rude the Daimon was being.

"Perhaps. What can you offer to make it worthwhile for me to arrange it?" Daimon Chudak asked cunningly.

"Are you requesting a bribe to undertake what has doubtless already been designated your official duty?" Sarek asked, following the Ferengi's question to its only logical conclusion.

Daimon Chudak immediately looked outraged. "I do not have to listen to this! Ending transmission-"

"Wait!" Xander finally spoke up. "You don't have to do that. I have two strips of gold-pressed latinum right here." He held them up so that Daimon Chudak could clearly see from his angle aboard the other ship. "Now, they just might find their way into your possession. I guess it all depends if you're someone interested in making a profit by helping us, or if you're..."

"If I am what?" the Ferengi asked right on cue.

Xander smiled a truly evil smile. "A spendthrift. Or maybe a philanthropist."

Daimon Chudak hissed angrily at the terrible insults, almost like a cat. "You will regret insinuating such things about me, hew-mon!" Then he seemed to reconsider, the sight of the latinum being waved around acting almost like cat-nip on his psyche. "Very well. The three of you, follow my ship down to Ferenginar's main spaceport. Deviate from course by so much as a hundred kilometers, and your shuttle will be utterly destroyed!"

"Come, Alexander Harris. I fail to perceive any point in keeping our hosts waiting," Sarek said emotionlessly, turning around to head for the turbolift once the view screen had gone blank.

"Ambassador Sarek, I must protest!" the captain of the 'Fredrickson' said, shooting an unfriendly glance at Xander. "Even putting aside the whole bribery issue, that Ferengi just threatened to kill you and the other members of your team! For your own safety, I cannot permit-"

"Do you outrank me, Captain?" Sarek interrupted calmly.

"Well, no, sir," the middle-aged man admitted reluctantly.

"Then continuing this conversation is pointless," the aged Vulcan stated simply. "Our mission will proceed as planned."

"Where did you get that latinum, by the way?" Ambassador Hawkins asked Xander, as they began to follow Sarek off the bridge.

"A friend of a friend. And I know it's not exactly standard procedure, sir," the apprentice diplomat sighed as he joined Hawkins and Sarek in the turbolift. "But I had a funny feeling that this particular meeting wasn't going to go smoothly. And I figured better to have it and not need it, rather than the other way around."

"Shrewd, and yet nonetheless, quite logical," Sarek commented as the turbolift doors hissed shut.

The trio soon departed the 'Fredrickson', and their runabout followed the Ferengi ship down onto the planet's surface. All three Federation personnel could not help noticing the constant, planet-wide, torrential rains, the rotting vegetation, and the rivers of muck that were clearly visible during their descent.

"A warp-capable people actually live here?" Hawkins shook his head in disbelief. He was even more astounded when, after the shuttle landed, they were actually forced to trudge through the muck and rain into the nearest building, instead of the Ferengi using their transporters to beam them inside.

"You, the hew-mon named...Harris. Where is my latinum?" Daimon Chudak demanded, after coming over to the Federation's diplomatic team.

"I'm sorry. Were you under the impression I had some sort of obligation to pay you for services rendered?" Xander asked facetiously. He then smirked, "Say, don't we have to have a contract for that sort of thing? A binding legal one, I mean, not a vague verbal one?"

The Ferengi hissed again angrily, before he quickly left; having spied Derro coming over, Daimon Chudak had realized that his window of opportunity to extort money out of the ignorant aliens had just expired. He HAD been under orders to escort them here, after all, and said orders had not included anything about the trio paying him for doing so.

"You are late," Derro said reproachfully, staring at the two humans and the Vulcan.

"We ran into an unexpected delay," Hawkins said diplomatically.

"Yeah, an incredibly greedy Daimon," Xander wisecracked, earning himself a glare from his boss.

"Is the Grand Nagus ready to receive us?" Sarek ignored the two Earthlings.

"Come with me," Derro gestured, not answering the question and leading the trio to his groundcar. He then took the diplomatic envoys on a swift journey through the city, through the Sacred Marketplace and past the Tower of Commerce, to the Nagal Residence.

"State your business," a Ferengi Commerce Authority operative commanded when they arrived inside the building.

"The Federation party is here to pay their respects to the Nagus," Derro said obsequiously.

"So, then, pay them," the older Ferengi told the Vulcan, as he gestured toward an idol statue created in Zek's image.

"You do realize this is blatant extortion," Sarek observed, as Xander shoved a slip of gold-pressed latinum into a purpose-built slot on the idol.

"If I want the opinions of a cash-poor Vahl-cahn, I will pay for them on junk credit," the Nagus's secretary hissed, looking just as offended as Daimon Chudak. He then gestured for the others to pay in order to meet with the Nagus. But since Xander only had one other slip of latinum, Ambassador Hawkins had to stay behind as Harris and Sarek entered Zek's private chambers.

( _Wow,_ ) Xander thought to himself as soon as he spied the Grand Nagus. ( _To think, people used to tease ME about how my ears stick out_... )

"So. You are the Federaxtl," the aged, big-eared Zek semi-hissed, even as his Hupyrian personal assistant (and bodyguard) eyed the two new arrivals carefully.

"The correct term is 'Federation', Grand Nagus Zek," Sarek said serenely.

"Why are you here?" Zek brushed that aside.

"You already know why we're here," Xander replied, after Sarek gave silent permission for him to speak. "So why waste our time asking pointless questions, Nagus? Where's the profit in it?"

Zek immediately zeroed in on Xander, more or less ignoring Sarek from that point onward. "What do you know of profit, hew-mon?"

"Not as much as the other people of twentieth-century Earth knew, which is when and where I was born," Xander shrugged. He then decided to follow Guinan's advice from half a decade ago, and mention the existence of Wall Street and what it had once represented.

Not long afterwards, Harris got himself stuck with the job of babysitting a crowd of Ferengi males (no females, of course – they were forbidden to leave the planet, not to mention wear clothes) as they undertook a pilgrimage to New York. And by the time the greedy little aliens left his home planet, Xander not only wanted to kill himself for following the Listener's advice, but he had also learned nearly all of the 285 Rules of Acquisition – and he had figured out how the Ferengi were most vulnerable with regard to their 'lobes,' or extremely large ears.

Xander's career prospects jumped light-years ahead of that of other people during 2364, once it became common knowledge who had been responsible for determining the best way to deal with the annoying habits of that capitalistic, avaricious and incredibly aggravating species.

TBC...


	3. War Zone

See Part One for disclaimer and details. Greetings and felicitations to you, our loyal readers! Thank you, everyone, who has reviewed and/or read the story, as always it's most appreciated. It's still kind of hard for us to believe - so many reviews, and so few chapters! Anyway, please, keep it coming. Oh, and Rob, thank you for your recent review; sorry we couldn't PM you in reply.

Now, having said that, it's time we get to the DS9 part of the story! So we hope you'll like...

* * *

**Part Three: War Zone**

**Within the Celestial Temple, a.k.a. the Bajoran wormhole**

**Stardate 50621.9**

Today was August 15th, 2373. And the life of Benjamin Lafayette Sisko had changed a great deal since he had met Xander and Cordelia in that remote region of southern California, nineteen years ago.

For example, Ben and Jennifer had gotten married and had had a son named Jake; someone who had been born roughly a year after that encounter with the former Slayerettes. The Sisko family had spent a number of happy years together – but then, Jennifer had died aboard the 'Saratoga' during a Borg attack known as the Battle of Wolf 359, and her widower husband had eventually taken command of the former Cardassian space station 'Terok Nor' that had been renamed 'Deep Space Nine'.

Curiously, those early days on 'Deep Space Nine' dealing with the planet named Bajor were something Benjamin had grown to miss over the past six months. Because ever since the galactic power known as the Dominion had started coming through the local wormhole from the Gamma Quadrant of the galaxy, and the Alpha Quadrant's war with them had started, Xander's wish within that Starfleet Academy bar...had unfortunately been fulfilled.

And then some – especially after the Cardassians had taken over the space station they'd originally built a few months back, and started using 'Terok Nor' as a base of operations for the Dominion's war against the United Federation of Planets.

Right now, though, Captain Sisko and the crew members of the 'Defiant' were getting ready to kiss their asses goodbye on a suicide run against the incoming Dominion fleet, as they traversed the wormhole. Benjamin commanded, "Lock phasers, prepare to launch quantum torpedoes-"

But then, everything changed.

The wormhole aliens, or the Prophets as the Bajorans called them, decided to intervene.

Sisko suddenly found himself in an altered reality, and tried to get his bearings as he heard whispering voices all around him. The black man tried to make out the words, but he couldn't succeed.

"Why have you brought me here? Show yourselves. What do you want?" Ben demanded of the invisible Prophets.

Benjamin's surroundings suddenly changed, as the wormhole aliens started to batter Sisko with observations. The Prophet wearing the face of Deep Space Nine's security chief, Odo, said, "The Sisko has returned to us."

The scene then altered to that of the place known as Quark's bar, as the wormhole alien looking like Jake Sisko said, "He arrives with questions."

Quick as a flash, Ben found himself within Deep Space Nine's Operations area, as the Prophet looking like Kira Nerys said, "There are always questions."

"I didn't ask to come here," Sisko replied coldly. And he would have said more, except he suddenly found himself within his former office, facing a Prophet who looked like Skrain Dukat.

"You desire to end the game," the wormhole alien informed him.

"What game? I don't understand," Sisko said in confusion.

The scene switched to the Deep Space Nine wardroom. The wormhole alien who looked like the Vorta named Weyoun said, "You seek to shed your corporeal existence."

Sisko suddenly found himself on the empty bridge of the 'Defiant', staring at the Prophet who had utilized the image of the Cardassian named Corat Damar. "That cannot be allowed."

In the blink of an eye, Sisko found himself once again within Deep Space Nine's Promenade, facing the Odo wormhole alien. "The game must not end."

Ben suddenly understood what the Prophets were trying to say using the analogies he had originally taught them, given their nonlinear perception of time. "The game – you mean my life? Is that what this is about? You don't want me to die?"

As he found himself back within his former office, the Dukat alien said to the Starfleet captain, "The game must continue."

Instantly transported to the wardroom, the Weyoun alien said to Ben, "You are the Sisko."

"Believe me, I don't want to die," Ben declared, speaking now as the Emissary to the Prophets on behalf of the Bajorans and the Federation. "But I have to do everything I can to prevent the Dominion from conquering the Alpha Quadrant. If that means sacrificing my life and the lives of my crew – so be it."

Suddenly back in Quark's bar, Sisko witnessed the Jake wormhole alien say, "We do not agree."

The Major Kira alien stepped up from behind the Starfleet captain and said, "We find your reasoning flawed."

The Odo alien stepped around from the other side. "Insufficient."

Benjamin didn't have time for this. "I'm flattered you feel that way, but it doesn't change anything. Now, send me back to my ship."

At once, he was on the empty bridge of the 'Defiant', facing the Damar alien. Sisko sighed, "This isn't what I meant. I want to return to my reality."

The Damar alien said adamantly, "You are the Sisko."

This was starting to get annoying, from the Emissary's point of view. "I'm also a Starfleet captain. I have a job to do, and I intend to do it."

The Weyoun alien appeared at one of the duty stations. "The Sisko is belligerent."

The Dukat alien appeared within the captain's chair. "Aggressive."

The Damar alien added, "Adversarial."

"You're damn right I'm adversarial," Sisko replied heatedly. "You have no right to interfere with my life!"

At once, the scene changed to that of the Operations area of 'Deep Space Nine' again. All six of the Prophets were present as the Kira wormhole alien said, "We have every right."

Sisko replied with a challenging note in his voice, "Fine – you want to interfere, then interfere! Do something about those Dominion reinforcements!"

"That is a corporeal matter," the Odo alien said simply.

"Corporeal matters do not concern us," the Dukat alien added in the same tone.

"The hell they don't," Sisko shot back angrily. "What about the planet Bajor? You can't tell me that it doesn't concern you. You've sent the Bajorans both Orbs and Emissaries – you've encouraged them to create an entire religion around you. You even told me once that you were 'of Bajor!' So don't tell me you're not 'concerned' with corporeal matters!"

Benjamin started pacing, and noted with some hope how all the Prophets seemed to be paying close attention to his words. He continued, "Look, I don't want to see Bajor destroyed, and neither do you. And we all know that's exactly what's going to happen if the Dominion takes over the Alpha Quadrant. You say you don't want me to sacrifice my life – fine, neither do I. But I need a miracle. Bajor needs a miracle. You want to be gods – then BE gods. Stop those ships!"

Suddenly, the scene shifted again, and Sisko found himself in a place that no longer existed – Captain Jean-Luc Picard's ready room aboard the 'Enterprise' NCC-1701-D.

The wormhole aliens started to talk amongst themselves, Benjamin noting how they had now assumed the faces of other individuals, people from his past. Captain John Noah Hertzler of the 'Saratoga'; his dead wife Jennifer; the Ferengi Grand Nagus Zek; Xander; Cordelia; and even Locutus of the Borg.

The unwelcome implications of the unexpected appearance of Locutus was enough to make Sisko very uneasy, given how that version of Jean-Luc Picard was an absolute nightmare – one that had overseen the slaughter of so many people, during the Battle of Wolf 359...

"We are of Bajor," the Hertzler wormhole alien remarked.

"But what of the Sisko?" asked the Jennifer alien.

"He is intrusive," the Xander alien decided.

"Argumentative," the Zek alien added.

"Undisciplined," noted the Cordelia alien.

"A penance must be exacted," the Locutus wormhole alien said forcefully.

Ben saw all the Prophets exchange a long look, and then nod. It was clear to him that they had come to an important decision as the Harris wormhole alien said, "It is agreed."

Sisko was about to ask what that meant, exactly, when his entire world dissolved into white light.

* * *

**USS Defiant, NX-74205**

**An instant later, by Sisko's reckoning**

Benjamin had a moment of extreme disorientation as he heard Chief Petty Officer Miles O'Brien say, "Torpedoes ready. Targets locked."

Another 'Defiant' crew member, the Trill named Jadzia Dax, said from her console, "Here they come."

( _What just..._ ) But then Sisko realized that nothing had changed from the moment when he had given the order to lock phasers and prepare to launch the quantum torpedoes against the Dominion fleet.

"Fire on my command," he said, struggling to quell the bitter disappointment that the Prophets had apparently changed their minds about helping him. "Steady, people. Make every shot count."

But just as Sisko was about to give the order to open fire, and for him and his crew to die for the cause, Dax reacted to something on the viewscreen. "Benjamin..."

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked on, as the approaching Dominion fleet began to get hit by some sort of strange energy that crackled from ship to ship. On the screen, the 'Defiant' crew saw the Dominion ships quickly vanish, one by one, until the entire fleet had disappeared.

O'Brien said in amazement, "They're cloaked?"

Dax checked her instruments. "I'm not picking up any neutrino emissions..."

"Then where did they go?" the renegade Cardassian named Elim Garak, who had thrown in his lot with Sisko and the others when the Dominion had gone on the warpath, asked in astonishment.

Sisko finally began to understand what the Prophets had done, and had to restrain himself from shouting for joy. "Wherever they went, I don't think they're coming back."

The bridge crew just stared at their captain in confusion, wondering what it was that he knew and that they didn't.

* * *

**Operations Area, Deep Space Nine a.k.a. Terok Nor**

**A few moments later**

The real-life versions of Damar, Dukat, Weyoun and a female Changeling who was in charge of the Dominion war effort within the Alpha Quadrant, were waiting impatiently for the wormhole to open and their reinforcement ships to come through. Damar then announced to Dukat, "Sir, the wormhole is opening."

All four looked to the viewscreen with obvious anticipation...only to see the 'Defiant' come blasting out of the Celestial Temple. Alone.

"The 'Defiant'..." Damar trailed off.

"Our reinforcements must be right behind," Dukat told him, looking very perturbed at the appearance of the enemy spacecraft. The Cardassian gul's theory was quickly proven wrong, though, when the wormhole closed behind the Starfleet vessel.

"No, sir..." Damar said, examining a console. "There's no sign of them." He looked to be at a complete loss for an explanation as to what had happened, and where the Dominion fleet had gone.

"That's impossible!" Weyoun shouted, looking furious at this unexpected setback. "Check our listening posts in the Gamma Quadrant."

"They're not there, either," Damar reported after a moment.

"But they entered the wormhole – where could they be?" Dukat asked in growing alarm.

"I don't know-" Suddenly, the space station started to rock from the Federation warship's weapons discharge. "The 'Defiant' has opened fire on us!" Damar reported.

"Obviously," Weyoun said with more than just a hint of sarcasm.

"Can you get our weapons on-line?" Dukat demanded of his minion, ignoring the Vorta.

"Not for a while, thanks to that damned sabotage," Damar reported, referring to the recent activities of Jake Sisko, Major Kira, and a couple of their Ferengi friends named Quark and Rom.

As everyone digested the implications of that, Damar quickly added, "Sir – two hundred enemy ships have broken through our lines. They're headed this way!"

Whatever else he was, Weyoun wasn't a soldier; but even he knew that staying around here with that many enemy combatants coming was pointless. So, putting on his best face possible, he just smiled and clapped his hands. "Time to start packing."

Even though she had been completely silent up until now, the Founder representative for the Dominion nodded and said to Damar, "Contact all our forces in the Alpha Quadrant and tell them to fall back to Cardassian territory. It appears that this war is going to take longer than expected."

Weyoun said jauntily to Dukat, "We'll meet you at Airlock Five," just before he and the female Changeling exited Ops.

* * *

**Odo's quarters, Deep Space Nine a.k.a. Terok Nor**

**A short while earlier**

The real-life version of Odo looked away as the female Founder left his private room. The memory of their recent conversation continually replayed itself in his mind:

"_It's Major Kira, isn't it? You still have strong feelings for her. Odo, she doesn't deserve your loyalty. You can't allow a Solid to deny you your rightful place in the Great Link. I couldn't permit it."_

"_What are you saying?"_

"_The major has been arrested."_

"_On what charge?"_

"_That hardly matters. What matters is that she will be found guilty and sentenced to death."_

Odo had to admit to himself that he'd never expected to hear those words from his fellow Changeling, nor for her to tell him it was too late for any of the Solids – the people he'd called friends and comrades, at least up until recently – to avoid death and slavery any longer. But then, ever since the station's security chief had become ensnared in the female Founder's web of manipulation and coercion, he had become the sort of person that the Odo of four years ago would have sneered at in contempt...

Just like the Xander Harris of four years ago would have done, as well.

Oddly, that was when Xander, who by that point had become a Federation ambassador, and Cordelia, who had achieved the rank of a Starfleet lieutenant commander, had lovingly said goodbye to one another. Again. The former cheerleader had been transferred to serve aboard Starfleet's flagship, the Enterprise-D; and Harris had settled down into his role as a liaison between the Federation and the provisional government of Bajor, on Stardate 46390.1.

Choosing to stay aboard 'Deep Space Nine' and commuting down to the planet whenever the principal ambassador needed his presence, Xander had helped negotiate peace between the various Bajoran government factions over the past few years. Not to mention arranging for the return of a number of priceless artifacts the Cardassians had 'requisitioned' during their fifty-year Occupation of the planet. Harris had also mediated between Starfleet and a number of Bajoran religious sects, once their beloved female leader named Kai Opaka had effectively been lost in the depths of outer space.

The former Zeppo's experience dealing with hormonal Slayers and hostile demons had come in very useful with regards to Bajoran politics and religious doctrine, more than once.

The very next moment, Odo heard a soft tapping on his door. Halfway tempted to tell whoever it was to go away, and somewhat confused as to why the door chime wasn't used, the security chief opened up and let someone dressed in the robes of a Bajoran monk enter. "Why have you come here? And for that matter, Vedek, who exactly are you?"

"I'm hurt," Xander said, throwing back his hood and letting Odo see his face. "You've forgotten me so quickly, Constable?"

Stunned, Odo had to take a moment or two to reassure himself that the Bajoran in front of him really was the man whom the security chief thought he was. The nose ridges certainly looked genuine enough, thanks to the cosmetic surgery, and the way Harris had moved just now...Odo had to admit, he was somewhat impressed. Because every species moved differently to his eye, humans and Bajorans and Cardassians alike, and yet Harris had passed as a native of Bajor flawlessly. ( _I didn't know he could be such a, a chameleon...that he could imitate others so well. It seems Ambassador Harris really did study my methods carefully, over the past four years_. )

"What are you doing here, Ambassador?" Odo demanded, instinctively reverting to his abrasive and abrupt 'policeman' persona. "I thought you left Bajoran space months ago, along with the rest of the Federation's forces."

"You're slipping, Odo. There was a time you would never have believed such a thing, because you knew me better than that," Xander told him, which made the shapeshifter inwardly cringe over just how true that statement was. "The truth is, I've been hiding amongst Vedek Bareil's followers since Captain Sisko and the others left. On account of Starfleet and the Federation needed a reliable information source around here – well, at least, someone other than Jake Sisko."

"I don't know why you've decided to surface like this, but you should leave. I can't help you," Odo looked away as he said that.

"Can't, or won't? And do you want to know why I decided to show up here today?" Xander came closer, a hard look appearing on his face. "Laws change depending on who's making them, but justice is justice. Now, where have I heard those words before? Oh, yeah, from a security chief I knew and respected for quite a number of years. Whatever happened to him, Odo? What happened to the Constable who would never have let Major Kira be arrested, let alone face a Jem'Hadar firing squad, just because the people in authority had ordered it?"

"You're...well informed," Odo choked out, shame filling him up as he thought of his recent actions. Which included letting the Bajoran major down on a number of issues, and failing to help her resistance cell against the Cardassians and his own people.

"All part of the job. But now, it's time to stop fooling around," Xander said gravely. "Because as Captain Sisko would put it, it's the bottom of the ninth and all the bases are loaded. So I really need to know, Odo – are you still the man I met four years ago, whose loyalty was to truth and justice? Or have you become a Founder of the Dominion, like the rest of your people?"

Odo abruptly straightened up, Xander's little speech having reminded him of who he was – and more importantly, who he wanted to be. "If I was the latter, don't you think I would have arrested you by now? The same way I did, when I thought you were responsible for those assassination attempts on First Minister Shakaar?"

Xander simply smiled, knowing that the Changeling had finally chosen sides once and for all. So, Harris nodded and left without another word; and not long afterwards, the Bajoran security forces led by Odo quit pretending to be friends with the bad guys. In fact, they took out as many of the Cardassians and the Dominion's bioengineered troops, the Jem'Hadar, as they could during the enemy's evacuation of 'Terok Nor'.

For his part, Xander selected a site that would give him a good angle of fire as Weyoun and his so-called 'god' headed for the airlock. He waited patiently until Weyoun called out to the Jem'Hadar, "Step aside. Make way for the Founder-"

Harris immediately shot the Vorta who had proposed destroying Earth, and everyone on it, to prevent insurrection against the Dominion's rule; the old-fashioned blaster rifle disintegrating Weyoun into his component atoms. The Jem'Hadar immediately returned fire, in retaliation for the slaying, and the shooting continued until the female Founder said, "Enough. We must leave. Now."

Her shock troops immediately obeyed, escorting the Changeling out the airlock. As she left the female Founder thought to herself, ( _I will have to procure a new Vorta from the cloning facility as soon as possible. It's unfortunate that I cannot delegate the task to Odo – but never mind, he will join me and the rest of our people one day. It's only a matter of time, after all._ )

Xander, who by this point was long gone from Airlock Five, suddenly ended up in a running gun battle with a couple of Cardassians. ( _Oh, crap, crap, CRAP! _) Harris thought to himself, before he managed to kill his opponents; even if their deaths brought the disguised human little to no joy.

Unlike Weyoun, the Cardassians were just ordinary military grunts, carrying out the orders given to them by Dukat and Damar. Something the war-weary former Halloween soldier could easily understand for himself, as he ran for safety while the enemy continued their hurried evacuation of 'Terok Nor'.

Thankfully, soon enough, the bad guys had left – and the crew of the 'Defiant' was welcomed home by Xander and the rest of the station's inhabitants.

TBC...


	4. Reunion

See Part One for disclaimer and details. Howdy everyone, and welcome to the latest chapter of the story! A big thank-you to everyone who's been reading, reviewing and sending feedback, we really do appreciate it. In fact, it's fair to say that we might not have gotten this far without you! Anyway, we hope you enjoy the latest instalment of the fic, and please don't be shy about telling us what you think of it. Good, bad, or neutral, we crave feedback the same way Xander craved Twinkies...

* * *

**Part Four: Reunion**

**The Command Bridge, USS Enterprise, NCC-1701-E**

**Stardate 50622.3**

Hard as it was to believe for some people, Cordelia was on Delta shift duty rotation, in charge of the 'Enterprise' during its artificial night time. The newly promoted Commander Chase was determined to succeed and repay the trust Captain Jean-Luc Picard had placed in her – by making sure that nothing catastrophic happened during her watch.

Because interesting historical sidebar, Cordelia's career had had its fair share of up's and down's until this particular tour of duty. After serving aboard the 'Endeavour' for quite a few years, Cordelia had been one of the incredibly few survivors of the Battle of Wolf359, when the Borg had annihilated the Starfleet task force sent to deal with them. And then, after being transferred to the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards for expressing an opinion that didn't sit well with her new captain, the brunette had finally been given an opportunity to excel aboard the 'Hood' and then the 'Enterprise' as the ship's conn officer.

At any rate, here and now, all seemed quiet and the bridge crew was efficiently attending to their tasks; which didn't leave Cordelia with much to do. The ship was in orbit around Earth, which meant the chances of an enemy encounter were fairly low; it was doubtful the Dominion would attack before the Delta duty shift was over. According to the latest intelligence the minefield blockading the Bajoran wormhole had yet to be dismantled, so Starfleet Command estimated that they still had some time before the Dominion reached the borders of the Federation's core worlds.

Cordelia was actually wondering what she would do after her shift was over, when all of a sudden, the communications officer announced that there was a long-range message for her.

"Who's it from?" Cordy wanted to know.

"It's Ambassador Harris, ma'am. He's calling from 'Deep Space Nine'," the crewman replied, looking amazed. That space station was supposedly under enemy control, after all.

Cordelia got up and went around to the battle station that had once been manned by the Klingon known as Worf, son of Mogh; Jadzia Dax's fiancé. "Put it on screen."

Xander's face appeared on the viewscreen. "Hello, Cordelia. Been a while, huh?"

"Xander?" Cordy looked astonished. "I wasn't expecting – what is it, what's going on?"

The truth was that Captain Sisko had been somewhat worried about the possible appearance of Locutus, thanks to that encounter with the Prophets within the Bajoran wormhole. So, Benjamin had delegated to Harris the duty of learning whether or not Picard was still himself, since the Emissary was too busy to personally find out. Fortunately, Xander had gained some sense of tact over the past two decades, so he didn't mention any of that to his ex-girlfriend; Harris just asked to personally speak to the captain of the 'Enterprise'.

Sensing this was important, Cordelia transferred Xander's image to the main viewscreen and hit the button to wake up Captain Picard. After hearing the good news about the Federation's recent victory in Bajoran space, Cordelia looked very happy that her former boyfriend had survived the Battle of Deep Space Nine. She asked, "What's your status?"

"Operation Return succeeded, and I'm still alive," Xander said simply, trying not to think of the people whom he'd seen get killed or injured over the past few months.

Captain Jean-Luc Picard came out of his ready room. "There's a message for me, Commander?"

"Yes, Captain," Cordelia immediately made way for her C.O. as he made his way towards the captain's chair. "We just heard the latest news about the war; straight from the horse's mouth, in fact."

Xander was instantly glad that Locutus was nowhere to be seen, and that he could report the good news back to Sisko; the last thing the Federation needed was the Borg showing up again. "Hello, Captain Picard," he greeted the Enterprise's captain.

"And yeah, like I was just saying to Cordelia, Captain Sisko pulled off a miracle just now against the Dominion forces; the enemy's retreating back to Cardassian territory. Not that that means the war's over, of course, but thanks to the Emissary, we're no longer looking at a full-scale invasion from the Gamma Quadrant," Harris stated calmly.

"Understood, Ambassador," Picard said with a strange look on his face; not only did Xander somehow remind him of Sarek for some reason, hearing about a victory like that from the friend of a junior officer wasn't exactly standard procedure. Normally, the news would have been released to him and the other ship captains via Starfleet Command; and so, this little episode was enough to make Jean-Luc suspicious.

"Give my regards to Captain Sisko, please. Picard out." Xander nodded, and the viewscreen went blank. "Commander, if you'd care to join me in my ready room?"

"Of course, Captain." Cordelia relinquished command of the duty shift to the next most senior officer, and followed the balding Frenchman. "What's this about, sir?"

"With regard to you and Ambassador Harris, Cordelia...well, I've been talking with Guinan-" Picard started to say.

"Really. And just what did that annoying little meddler have to say?" a familiar male voice interrupted, after a short burst of white light in the corner.

Instantly angry, Picard turned to face the unwelcome visitor dressed in a Starfleet admiral's uniform. "Damn it, Q-!"

"Now, now, mon capitaine – let's be civil about this," the father of Q Junior said with what Picard considered to be intolerable smugness. "Like I've said before; you may not respect the man, but you should respect the uniform."

"YOU are not a Starfleet admiral!" Picard roared, not doing his blood pressure any good at all.

"I could, if I wanted to be. In fact, I could be running all of Starfleet right now if it took my fancy, and you'd never even know it. Hmmm! The prospect of you calling me 'sir' is rather appealing, Jean-Luc, now that I think about it..."

"From what I've heard, you'd get completely bored with something like that almost immediately. Besides, I bet you want Captain Picard to acknowledge your superiority willingly, or not at all," Cordelia said, after getting over the amazement of seeing another member of the Q Continuum after all this time.

"Yes, I suppose you're right. Too bad," Q sighed. "Oh, well, never mind."

"What are you doing here, Q?" Picard demanded, trying to keep a lid on his temper. Jean-Luc's superiors had told him recently that as an ally, Q would be the best possible defense against a Dominion invasion – and as an enemy, someone who could destroy the entire Federation with simply a thought. So, he should be cautious, but not pass up any opportunity to secure Q's help with regards to the war. "Has the Continuum decided to help the Federation against the Dominion, by any chance?"

"Oh, please, Jean-Luc, I expected better from you than that! Your petty little squabbles with the people of the Gamma Quadrant are of no interest to us, at all. Actually, I'm here to talk to her," Q indicated Cordelia with a wave of his hand.

"What do you want to talk to Commander Chase about?" Picard demanded, his French accent thickening somewhat.

Q simply snapped his fingers in reply, and the captain of the 'Enterprise' disappeared with a quick burst of white light. "What did you do?" Cordy demanded at once.

"Oh, nothing much. Jean-Luc's perfectly safe, if that's what you're worried about," Q replied with an amused look.

"What. Did. You. Do?" the Starfleet commander demanded again, neither her attitude nor her tone of voice warming up the slightest bit, despite the demonstration of power she'd just witnessed.

Q smirked, "I sent Picard to the private quarters of dear old Beverly Crusher. Well, actually, I put him in her bed. While she's sleeping in it. Perhaps I should also mention that he ended up on top of her, lacking any clothing at all, and in a rather aroused state of mind? It ought to keep him distracted, at least for a little while..."

"You're one sick, perverted maniac," Cordelia told him in disgust, the old 'Queen C' persona surfacing at once. "Is that how you get your kicks, playing with our lives that way?"

"Au contraire, mademoiselle!" Q altered his appearance with a burst of light, he was now sporting a thick moustache and wearing early 20th century clothing. "Ever since my son brought you and your paramour to this era, I've been 'getting my kicks', as you put it, trying to find you two – in order to send you back home. The when and where you two originally came from, that is."

"What?" Cordy choked out, not sure whether to believe her ears.

Q snapped his fingers again, and Xander appeared with the customary burst of light. "There, that's better; I'd hate to have to repeat myself. And do you have any idea how hard it is to find a pair of mortals like yourselves, whilst having to search the entire universe – from one end of time to the other?" Q briefly looked exasperated with his offspring.

"What's going on?" Xander looked hopelessly confused, as well as human again; for some reason, Q had restored his natural physiognomy after transporting him here from 'Deep Space Nine'. "Cordy, how did I get here?"

"Oh, wait, allow me to introduce myself!" Q altered his appearance yet again, this time acquiring a tweed suit and wearing a pair of glasses, much like a certain British Watcher had worn centuries ago. "I am Q, of the Q Continuum. No need to bow down and worship me."

"Q?" Xander instinctively moved next to Cordelia. "After all these years – is that really you?"

"I'm not my son, you overprotective ignoramus," Q snapped, rolling his eyes. "Can't you tell, just by looking at the magnificence which is I?"

Without warning, Q suddenly transformed into an image of Cordelia wearing nothing but a skimpy black bikini; which automatically made Xander's hormones go into overdrive at the sight of her enhanced, magnificent cleavage and an ass that magnetically, irresistibly drew his eyes to its perfectly shaped contours.

"HEY!" the Chase woman shouted, her cheeks flaming. "Knock it off, pal, or you'll be sorry!" It was hard to tell who exactly Cordy was talking to, though.

Q subsequently morphed into Xander, but not the Xander that Cordelia knew. This version of Harris was wearing just a loincloth, and had muscles on top of his muscles all along his arms and legs, as well as a broad, barrel-shaped chest. "Is this any better?"

"Like she said, Q, knock it off!" Xander shouted, deeply embarrassed as Cordelia almost started drooling at the sight of...him.

Q transformed back into his normal appearance, wearing his Starfleet uniform. "Fine, fine. Uch, but I see you've both acclimated to this era far too much. Well, never mind; let's get you two back where you belong-"

"What?" Harris interrupted, looking around at his former girlfriend.

"He wants to send us back to Sunnydale. To 1998," Cordelia told him, a troubled look appearing in her eyes.

"Uh, why do you wanna do that?" Xander asked Q in confusion. "I mean, it's been almost twenty years since...your son...brought us here. So, so, how the hell could Cordy and I explain why we now look like we're almost forty? Well, unless you send us to 2017, or whatever."

"Why would I bother to do that? Neither of you were ever destined to live that long, anyway," Q shrugged indifferently, thinking about what he'd learned regarding Jasmine and a witch named Amy Madison.

"WHAT?!" Xander and Cordelia shouted in alarm and dismay, abruptly recalling that long-ago farewell message from the Scooby Gang.

Q narrowed his eyes, and snapped his fingers yet again. In an instant, he had magically inserted into Xander and Cordelia's minds memories of the life they would have experienced, had Q Junior not abducted the duo to the future that day.

And unsurprisingly, both man and woman instantly screamed in horror.

"I DIED during 2004?" Cordelia was almost catatonic from the memories of becoming Angel's Vision Girl, and being raped mind, body and soul for months by Jasmine.

"And I got killed a year after her funeral?" Xander whispered, grabbing hold of his former girlfriend – who grabbed hold of him just as tightly.

"Well, you didn't think you were going to live forever, did you?" Q scoffed. "Humans die; that's simply their lot in life. And you've both lived nearly fifteen years longer than you otherwise would have! But do I hear any smidgen of gratitude, any token of thanks? No, of course not! It's just whine, whine, whine...oh, woe is me..."

"You still haven't answered Xander's question. Why are you doing this?" Cordelia demanded, finally getting past the shock factor. "And don't tell me you're just cleaning up your son's mess, I can spot an ulterior motive from over a mile away!"

Q sighed in apparent boredom. "All right, fine. Those silly kids – the Bajorans call them the Prophets, you call them the wormhole aliens – they contacted the Continuum on a matter of 'penance', as they put it. In return for helping good old Benjamin at the last moment, you two have been brought to my attention to be sent back where you came from – nullifying everything you've accomplished in this timeline. Every life you two have saved in this era is thus forfeit, thanks to Sisko's demands."

That stunned both humans into disbelieving silence. Xander finally croaked out, "What?"

"You heard me. Because as they used to say in your time, little man, there's no such thing as a free lunch!" Q actually laughed out loud at his companions' facial expressions.

"You're going to send us back to Sunnydale as the teenagers we were, make us forget everything that's happened in our lives here – and then we'll die a few years later, like we were originally supposed to." Cordelia looked sick, just like Xander.

"Yes. I'm glad you finally understand. Oh, I believe it's customary at this point to ask if there are any last words?" Q requested with a smirk.

But just as the situation looked hopeless and the end was near, Guinan glided into the captain's ready room. "I knew I'd find you here," the Hostess of Ten-Forward glared at Q.

"What do you want?" Q sneered at her, as the black woman raised her arms into a defensive posture.

"I want you to leave," Guinan said bluntly. "Go away, and never bother these two again."

"And why should I do that?" Q wanted to know.

"Because if you don't, I will make you regret it," Guinan warned him.

"Now how could YOU ever possibly do that?" Q growled, not liking being threatened.

"Just how difficult do you think it would be for me to enter the Nexus again, if I put my mind to it?" Guinan asked, referring to the extra-dimensional ribbon-like realm that was wandering aimlessly throughout this quadrant of the galaxy. A place where time meant nothing, and your every heart's desire was available to you. The El-Aurian then added, "You do not want me hounding you for the rest of eternity, and we both know it."

Q snarled silently at her and, with a snap of his fingers, Harris vanished in a burst of white light, reappearing back on board 'Deep Space Nine'.

"This isn't over," Q told Guinan with an ugly look on his face, before he vanished just like Xander had done.

"Oh, God, thank you Guinan!" Cordelia grabbed her friend into a huge hug.

"You're welcome," the centuries-old black woman said, patting her on the back. "And I don't know about you, but right now I could do with a stiff drink."

"Uh, we kinda have to go find Captain Picard first. He's, um, he's currently busy in Dr. Crusher's quarters," Cordelia explained, looking embarrassed all over again as she let go of the ship's bartender. "We're probably gonna need to set our phasers on stun, too."

Guinan just sighed. "NEVER tell me details..."

* * *

**Quark's Bar, Deep Space Nine**

**A few moments earlier**

Benjamin Sisko was certain of one thing right at this moment. ( _I'm glad to be home, at long last._ ) Looking around the bar, the Starfleet captain finally let himself relax after the rapid flurry of tasks he'd had to attend to subsequent to securing 'Deep Space Nine' a few hours ago.

Sisko could see how almost all of his extended family was present in the establishment; for example, Major Kira was here talking to Odo, who was looking somewhat uncomfortable. Dax was likewise talking to Worf, who was looking equally uncomfortable. Jake was talking to his friend, the Ferengi named Nog; Quark was talking to his brother, Rom, and sister-in-law, Leeta; even the Klingon general, Martok, was here, talking to Garak.

Chief O'Brien wasn't present, of course, but Sisko knew that was because he and his best friend, Dr. Julian Bashir, were currently enjoying themselves re-enacting the Battle of Britain in one of Quark's holosuites. ( _I'd say about the only person who's missing is... _)

"Emissary, I must speak with you at once!"

( _...not her,_ ) Benjamin thought somewhat sourly, before turning to face his visitor. "Kai Winn. What an unexpected pleasure..."

An ambitious religious leader and the first Kai elected after the Cardassian Occupation, Winn Adami was a member of a frequently outspoken orthodox order, as well as a sharp-faced woman who was steadfastly rooted in her faith. Unfortunately, Kai Winn didn't look like she believed Benjamin was pleased to see her – as she had often come into conflict with Sisko, someone she considered an outsider unworthy of receiving the wisdom of the Prophets.

A fact which Benjamin was all too aware of.

So, trying to head off any potential conflict, he said, "How can I help you, Eminence?"

"You can start by explaining to me how it is that a Human – that odious Harris individual – actually dared to masquerade as a Bajoran vedek!" Kai Winn declared, having heard the truth by now. "This, this sort of SACRILEGE against the faith is not something I intend to tolerate-"

"Kai Winn, if I may," Sisko smoothly cut in, recalling how Xander had laughingly stated not long ago that this female mandarin had never realized who he was, even though he'd stood less than three feet away from her more than once. "Ambassador Harris and the Federation intended no disrespect to you or the Bajoran faith with that little...deception. But desperate times often call for desperate measures, as I'm sure you know – from when you were captured and beaten by the Cardassians, for trying to spread the word of the Prophets during the Occupation."

That took the wind out of Kai Winn's sails a little, as she visibly calmed down. "That is hardly the same thing, Emissary."

"Perhaps, perhaps not. Nonetheless, I'm familiar with how you spent five years with nothing but your faith to sustain you, Eminence; no weapons, no supplies, nothing at all. Xander was more or less in the same situation over the past few months; not to mention facing immediate execution as a spy, if he happened to get caught acting in Bajor's best interests," Benjamin said in his most reasonable tone. "So it's my hope that for the sake of our alliance, you can overlook the more...questionable...aspects of the ambassador's actions."

Kai Winn's face quickly adopted a familiar expression of guile and intrigue. She knew how to play that game with Sisko, after the past three years. "Perhaps something can be arranged. The Prophets teach us to be patient and forgiving, after all." The middle-aged woman then looked around. "Where IS the man in question, I'd like to know?"

"So would I," Sisko remarked, suddenly feeling uneasy. Xander's usual seat at the bar next to the chatty patron named Morn was empty. "I was expecting him to be here, to be honest with you. I did ask the ambassador to contact Captain Picard of the 'Enterprise' a while back, but I'd have thought he'd have finished doing that by now. Perhaps-"

As if in response to his remark, at exactly that moment, there was a flash of white light; and a naked Xander Harris crashed down onto Quark's most expensive dabo table, courtesy of Q's warped sense of vengeful humor. Commotion instantly spread across the establishment, as everyone stopped whatever they were doing and turned to see what was the latest excitement aboard the station.

"What's going on here?" Quark's annoying, whining voice could easily be heard over the surprised babble throughout the bar, as many of the patrons headed over towards the former Slayerette. Who was now laying on the floor, twitching slightly. The Ferengi entrepreneur then added, "And who's going to pay for the damage to my dabo table?"

"Sisko to Ops! Emergency transport, Ambassador Harris to Sick Bay!" Benjamin shouted after activating his com-badge as Kai Winn withdrew, looking rather perturbed at the sight of the nude Xander.

"I'm sorry, Captain. For some reason, we can't lock on to him," the transporter chief replied over the subspace connection, sounding surprised.

"WHAT? Then get Dr. Bashir over here, right now!" Sisko shouted in annoyance.

"Everyone, out of my way!" Julian Bashir ordered as he and O'Brien appeared on the scene. The crowds dutifully retreated, as the good doctor quickly examined his new patient with his medical tricorder. "Oh...I need to get this man to Sick Bay immediately!"

Rom quickly requisitioned an anti-gravity pallet, and Xander was transferred to the space station's main medical bay as quickly as possible. Everyone was soon relieved to learn that Harris was basically alright...

But what wasn't alright was the fact that Xander was now stuck here on 'Deep Space Nine', and unable to leave in any way, shape or form. He simply couldn't get past the boundaries of his new prison...

Because Q's authority as an agent of the Prophets allowed him the luxury of enforcing 'penance' in any way he saw fit.

To Be Concluded...


	5. Closure

See Part One for disclaimer and details. Hello, and welcome to the final chapter of the story! It's been fun, but after a lot of debate we decided to end it here, and move on to other things. We just want to say thanks again to our beta reader, Greywizard (the guy did an awesome job, as always) and thanks to everyone who's reviewed the fanfic:

Ant Crown, fullhans1, IUseAFakeName, kyro232, amac1688, highlander348, Quathis, Firehedgehog, ElDani, uo-chou, Guest, Alkeni, Womgi, Rob, Pyro-Neko-Isis, Wonderbee31, Loatroll, Swanboy, and anyone else we might have missed.

Okay, with all that out of the way, please enjoy the final part of WNZHGB – and please tell us what you thought of it, once you get to the end!

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**Part Five: Closure**

**Cordelia Chase's quarters, USS Enterprise, NCC-1701-E**

**Stardate 50622.9**

Cordelia was honestly wishing she could scrub out the insides of her brain, to get rid of all the memories of the last few hours. She wanted to erase not only what she and Guinan had witnessed taking place between Captain Picard and Dr. Crusher in the red-haired woman's bedroom a few hours ago, but also that which Q had inserted into her mind not long before he'd vanished off the ship – and sent her ex-boyfriend away, as well.

( _Well, at least Xander's still alive,_ ) Cordelia thought to herself hollowly, unable to prevent herself thinking about what would have happened between them, had Q Junior not intervened that day. She had been in contact with 'Deep Space Nine' after reporting what had happened to the ship's first officer, Commander William Riker, and Cordy had learned that Harris had recently been released from Dr. Bashir's care. ( _I'm gonna have to head over there to that ugly-as Cardassian space station and talk to the dorkhead, the first chance I get. Not only about what Q did to him, but about all these damned memories in my head as well..._ )

The recollections of that other life were actually threatening to overwhelm Cordelia's sanity, as a matter of fact. The four years she would have spent as Angel's seer in Los Angeles were not all bad, granted, but the knowledge that she would have been used and abused and then tossed aside like a piece of trash – dying after spending nearly a year in a mystical coma, of all things – was truly horrifying.

( _And what the hell, I actually thought I was in love with Angel? Was I tripping on acid or what?_ ) Cordelia asked herself incredulously. Thinking of Angelus and all the deaths he'd caused, all the destruction, all the chaos, and the apocalypse that monster had almost brought about during 1998 – it almost made the former May Queen ill contemplating spending her life in Los Angeles, with the ensouled version of that vampire.

Because the memories had not made her into the Cordelia who had FOOLISHLY decided to let that two-faced mercenary Skip demonize her, in order to remain useful to Angel; the Chase woman was still herself, still the same Starfleet officer who, nowadays, had spent more years in the 24th century than in the 20th. Q hadn't given her the emotions that the Vision Girl would have experienced, just the memories; and as Cordelia glanced over at the photo of herself and Xander taken during a romantic holiday on the planet Risa, she gave thanks to whoever might be listening Up There that that was the case.

"Come," Cordelia instantly said, as the door chime suddenly sounded. ( _It's probably Captain Picard, wanting an explanation for what happened in his ready room; not to mention when I stunned him in Dr. Crusher's quarters. And hoo boy, he is NOT going to like hearing the truth about that!_ )

The doors slid open, but instead of Jean-Luc Picard...two other individuals entered her room. One of them was a tall humanoid who looked like a native of Tau Ceti, whom Cordelia had never met before. The other, however...

"Wesley," Cordelia stated uncertainly, staring at Beverly Crusher's son. They didn't know each other well; in fact, they had only met the one time, after Wesley had decided to drop out of Starfleet Academy during the Dorvan V incident three years ago.

But then, Cordelia didn't have to know Crusher well in order to decipher the expression on the young man's face. "I take it you've already heard the news?"

"That Q forced Captain Picard to rape my mother? Yes," Wesley growled, looking pissed as hell over what had happened. He didn't explain how he had learned that so quickly, after being away for so long, but Cordy didn't press him for answers; she had other things on her mind.

"Ah, technically, it wasn't exactly rape in the sense that, um, they both wanted it," Cordelia said delicately, before she saw Wesley send her a look full of ire and condemnation. "Not that I'm defending what Q did, of course, but – well, I'm sure you know how close your mom has gotten to Captain Picard over the past decade, Wes. Even I could tell that something's been building between them over the years, ever since you left; so who knows, maybe what happened last night was, y'know, sorta inevitable. Even if the circumstances really do suck."

"She is not wrong, Wesley," the alien known as The Traveler said consolingly to his protégé, as Crusher turned to stare at him. "In our travels between parallel dimensions, we have seen for ourselves how, more often than not, your mother becomes romantically involved with Captain Picard. So you should try not to take what happened too personally-"

"It's my MOM who was violated that way! How can I NOT take it personally?!" Wesley shouted, before he stormed out of Cordelia's cabin.

The Traveler just sighed wearily, before he noticed Cordy staring at him. "He is angry and troubled. Much like yourself."

"Don't even start, buddy. I am seriously not in the mood," Cordelia hissed, coming closer to the native of Tau Alpha C. "Who are you, anyway?"

"Call me The Traveler; no human can pronounce my true name. And I meant no offense," the alien said calmly, not looking at all scared of the thirty-something woman's wrath. "The truth is, there is a reason why I described you thusly. In addition, there is something I must show you. Please, take my hand." The Traveler raised his right arm, offering his hand to Cordelia.

The Starfleet commander hesitated for a moment, but then reached out and grabbed The Traveler's hand firmly. With a slight smile, the humanoid focused his thoughts on altering his current reality – and just like that, he and Cordelia were translated into another time and another place, far away from the 'Enterprise'.

* * *

**The Vulcan Embassy, San Francisco**

**Stardate 37251.4**

Cordelia materialized, feeling somewhat dazed and disoriented, as she struggled to get her bearings. Shaking her head a little, the brunette looked around – and she instantly knew something was wrong.

There were a number of people in Starfleet uniform present in the room, but it wasn't the current grey style with the undershirt's color indicating the occupation specialty; the uniforms these people were wearing looked like something from the previous decade, at least. "What the-"

"Please do not be alarmed," The Traveler interrupted softly, causing Cordy to turn around and look at him. "We are perfectly safe, here and now."

Nobody could accuse Cordelia Chase of being dumb. "Are you seriously telling me that that you took me back in time? How the hell did you pull THAT off? Xander and I tried everything we could think of way back when, and we couldn't accomplish squat!"

"The situation has changed," The Traveler tried to explain. "The old rules which the youngest Q had imposed upon you and your male companion have been...overturned, so to speak, by the rest of the Continuum. You are now free to travel anywhere, and anywhen, you wish; even if Xander Harris is not."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"For the foreseeable future, at least, the Q you met a few hours ago has confined your former mate to 'Deep Space Nine'," The Traveler confessed. "The ambassador is alive and well, but trapped and unable to leave his prison. Even I cannot release him from his bondage."

Cordelia blinked. A number of thoughts started crashing into one another inside her mind, but eventually she focused enough to say, "And just how do you know that?"

"The members of the Q Continuum and I have met before, a number of times. Do not ask me to explain the circumstances; all that you need know is that my information sources are trustworthy. At least, as trustworthy as any Q can be," The Traveler shrugged.

"Get me out of here," Cordelia barked authoritatively. "I don't care how you do it; just take me to 'Deep Space Nine', right now!"

"There is nothing you can do for him, then and there," The Traveler said gently. "However, there is something that you can do for the man here and now. Observe."

Cordelia turned her head, and gasped as she saw a younger-looking Xander talking with the two DTI agents named Marion Dulmur and Gariff Lucsly. Cordy instantly made the connection; all this had taken place roughly thirteen years ago, not long after she and Xander had split up in New Berlin, and she had transferred aboard the 'Endeavour'. Xander had later told her that this was the day he had first met his mentor, Sarek; after the two bureaucrats had pissed him off so much that he had stormed away, and literally bumped into the Vulcan diplomat.

"You need to hurry," The Traveler advised her, as Cordelia turned to face him again. "Ambassador Sarek is about to leave the room. If you do not prevent him from departing, Xander Harris will subsequently follow a career path other than diplomacy – and he will die at the Utopia Planitia shipyards, approximately seven years from now."

Stunned, Cordelia almost couldn't process that – she'd nearly forgotten the accident that had taken place, while she'd been stationed there – but if nothing else, the Federation's war with the Dominion had taught her not to overthink things. Her body was already in motion, as she placed her back to Xander so that he couldn't see her face. "Ambassador Sarek!"

The Vulcan ambassador and his aide named Sakkath both stopped, and turned to stare at her. "The ambassador must depart to meet with his wife, Perrin. May I assist you?" Sakkath asked politely.

"No, uh, I need to speak directly to him. It's, it's a matter of life and death," Cordelia semi-babbled, desperately trying to stall. ( _Come on, Lame Boy, where the hell are you?!_ )

Right on cue, Xander strode past her – and collided directly with Sarek. "Oh! Sorry, Mr. Ambassador, guess I wasn't looking where I was going..." Harris immediately apologized.

As soon as both Sarek and Sakkath were distracted, Cordelia started to back away – but then she stopped, as she felt The Traveler's hand on her shoulder. An instant later, they both vanished from 2360, arriving safely aboard the Enterprise-E within Cordelia's quarters.

"Well done," The Traveler stated with small smile, before he vanished from Cordelia's quarters.

"I HATE time travel," the female Starfleet officer grumbled, as she strode out of the room straight towards Ten-Forward. She had already decided to take Guinan up on that offer of a very stiff drink...

* * *

**Close by Lake Sunnydale, California**

**Stardate 51272.4**

Today was the twenty-year anniversary of the day they'd arrived into this future era; and so, perhaps not unexpectedly, Xander and Cordelia had decided to spend today together. Here, at the exact same place where they'd materialized, back in 2354. To remember the past, and consider the future.

A great deal had happened in the months since that meeting with Q aboard the 'Enterprise', Xander's return to the Bajoran space station, and Cordelia's brief sojourn into the past.

For example, the Dominion war had kept going long after the Battle of Deep Space Nine, with the Romulans and the Breen eventually choosing sides and getting involved in the conflict. The hostilities had, in the end, been terminated only when that female Founder had decided to stop the war; not out of the goodness of her heart, of course, but in order to save her species from annihilation.

Which was all thanks to a lethal virus that had infected the Great Link and was slowly killing all of the Changelings, everywhere. As an aside, it was too bad how the Cardassians had almost been wiped out of existence for changing sides before the cease-fire took place, but since they had willingly aligned themselves with the Dominion in the first place...

Well, as Captain Sisko had put it whilst in the throes of an Emissary vision, "The locusts had come to Cardassia," and they'd had to pay the price for their actions.

In any case, just as The Traveler had told Cordelia, Xander had found himself stuck aboard 'Deep Space Nine'. He'd kept on doing his job as best he could, of course, even though Harris had also continually tried everything he could think of to depart the space station, once he'd realized the situation. But he'd been a prisoner right up until the point when, after the war was officially over, Sisko had stopped Kai Winn and Dukat's mad scheme to destroy the Prophets – given how the religious woman had lost her faith completely, and turned against the gods she had served all her life.

The aftermath of that battle must have been the catalyst for Q backing off and allowing Xander to leave 'Deep Space Nine', because Sisko's corporeal existence was over after ending the threat of the Bajoran traitor and his Cardassian arch-nemesis. The Emissary had found himself amongst the Prophets in the Celestial Temple, with a new role in life as a higher being. Which more or less explained why the wormhole aliens had said to the Starfleet captain 'the game must not end', way back when.

"Place hasn't changed a bit, has it?" Xander asked, looking around at the woods and holding Cordelia's hand tightly.

"Nope. Kinda hard to believe it's been two decades since we showed up here," Cordelia replied, looking around towards the lake. "And that it's managed to recover so much since the 21st century."

"What?" Xander didn't get that.

Cordelia confessed that she had scanned this area from aboard the 'Enterprise' a few months ago, when Picard and his crew had chased the Borg back in time to the year 2063; to prevent the cybernetic villains from interfering with Earth's historic First Contact encounter with the Vulcans, and assimilating humanity when it was at its most weakest. Cordy asked Xander, "Do you remember those pictures we were shown during sophomore year History class? The ones from the battlefields during World War One, near the Somme river? That's what this place looked like, then. Nothing but scorched earth and dead trees, and the water in the lake was like completely black."

Xander was instantly glad he had never seen that. Nonetheless he asked, "You didn't see anything...?"

"Familiar? No, nothing," Cordelia shook her head, clutching Xander's hand tighter. "Sixty-five years is a long time, Xander. Sunnydale was completely gone, and when I saw the disaster area it had become that night, it was really kinda hard for me to believe the town had ever existed here."

"It existed." Xander pointed at the strait separating them from the region's northern peninsula. "The Sunnydale docks were located right over there, actually." He pointed towards the further shore. "That rise over yonder, on the far side, that's what's left of Kingman's Bluff. I've been doing some research, trying to reconstruct where everything was – still, I couldn't tell you where the high school was located. Or the Bronze. Or your house, or mine, or Willow's or Buffy's..."

Cordelia frowned. Seeing the pain visible on Xander's face, and hearing the huskiness in his voice, told her more than Harris realized. "It's been twenty years – but you still miss them like crazy, huh?"

"Always," Xander nodded, quickly getting his emotions under control with the techniques learned from Sarek. "Giles and Oz, not so much anymore; but those two were my family, Cor. My REAL family. I could care less about my parents, but I HATE the fact that I can't even visit Buffy and Willow's graves! I mean, who knows where they ended up getting buried! Damn that Q kid for not even-"

There was a short burst of white light, and Q Junior appeared. He looked somewhat older than he had twenty years ago, but only in terms of weeks or months, not years or decades. "I heard my name mentioned?"

"YOU!" Cordelia barked out angrily. "What are you doing here?"

"Please, you can relax. This is just a friendly little visit," Q Junior said benevolently. "I promise, I come bearing no hostile intentions towards either of you."

"And yet somehow, I find that very hard to believe," Xander replied acidly.

"Why?" Q Junior asked frankly, now sounding very much like Q. "Because I did you and your lady friend here a favor, as I'm sure both of you know by now. Father did say he'd given you memories of the lives you two would have had if I hadn't intervened, isn't that correct?"

"Yeah," Cordelia abruptly shivered, not wanting to recall that...that nightmare. "But still, you had no right to bring us here without our permission back then!"

Q Junior instantly looked annoyed. "Be honest; would either of you have granted it, if I had asked politely? Of course not – so the end justified the means, to borrow a human phrase. If you like, think of what I did as holding down a screaming child as it's given a painful vaccination – in order for it to live, and fulfill its potential. Which you two have certainly done..."

He gestured to Xander, "After all, the hero who exposed Section 31? The man who sponsored the first Ferengi to enter Starfleet? The individual whom your dearly departed friend Sarek recommended for a medal, with regards to that Romulan plot to induce world-wide _pon farr_ on Vulcan?"

Q Junior then gestured to Cordelia, "The heroine of Veridian III? The creator of the Chase Maneuver? The woman who, now that Starfleet is desperately short of command officers, is certain to be promoted to captain of her own ship within a year or two?"

"What?" Xander and Cordelia both demanded, looking dumbfounded.

"Unless I'm very much mistaken – something which, Q and all, is quite frankly impossible – there'll be four gold pips on your collar soon enough," Q Junior smirked, suddenly looking as arrogant as he had two decades ago. "And as they used to say in the 20th century, you can take that to the bank. Well, what passes for a bank in the Federation's moneyless economy nowadays, but why quibble over technicalities?"

"All that still doesn't change the fact that you took me away from Buffy and Willow," Xander said stonily. "Sure, I wouldn't have lived all that much longer had I stayed with them-"

"Yes, and don't forget how instead of an equal, those two would have treated you as a powerless liability for your rest of your life, less than six months after you met me," Q Junior interrupted brusquely, causing Harris to flinch in pain and Cordelia to stare at Xander in amazement. "And not only them but everyone else you knew, as well. Apart from that vengeance demon you would have gotten betrothed to-"

"WHAT?!" Cordelia interrupted, looking at Xander in shocked disbelief. "You would have become engaged to a freaking demon, if we hadn't been abducted that day? Mister, you never told me that!"

"No, Cor, uh – it's, it's not what you think," Xander shook his head rapidly. "I mean, I was a totally different person by that point – plus, I would have left my fiancée on our wedding day, almost three years after you left Sunnydale. Not exactly my finest hour, I'll admit, but-"

"But nothing," Q Junior interjected triumphantly. "Go on, admit it; I saved you from that particular embarrassment. So, you owe me for that, if nothing else!"

"I owe you? Fine. Then what do you want from me, Q, in order for us to call it even?" Xander demanded stiffly.

"Get over the past, as Aunt Kathy would put it," Q Junior said simply, recalling his human godmother; who was currently stranded on the opposite side of the galaxy, along with her ship's crew.

( _I really ought to do something to help her and her people, but not yet,_ ) Q Junior reminded himself. ( _Not until everyone aboard 'Voyager' fulfills everything they're meant to accomplish in the Delta Quadrant, anyway._ )

Q Junior then focused and said to Xander, "Live your life in the present and in the future – or what you mortals think of as the present and the future, anyway. And by the way, your witch friend and your tempestuous little Slayer crush? Their ashes were eventually scattered into the water, right over there." Q Junior gestured towards the lake, and then the youngest member of the Continuum vanished with a quick burst of white light.

"I REALLY hate it when they do that," Cordelia growled, before turning back to face Xander. "All right, doofus, now I want details! Tell me all about this demon woman you would have almost married!"

"Anya wasn't a demon, Cor, at least – not anymore," Xander replied hastily. "I mean, not that I enjoy remembering how I would have humiliated her that day, or even how she'd have died about a year later...but I can remember how Ahn would've become a good person, after she learned what it meant to be a human being again. Which, after spending 1100 years killing unfaithful guys before she ran into you, wasn't exactly-"

"Hold it. Never mind; I've decided I don't want to know," Cordelia cut him off, dimly recalling that undercover demoness before dismissing the decades-old memory with a grimace.

"Right. Just like I don't want to know about what would have happened between you and Deadboy, if you had gone to Los Angeles after Graduation," Xander shrugged. Cordelia had mentioned something about her and Angel getting involved in that other life, much to his surprise and horror. "And I guess that Q sorta had a point; I need to get over the past. I mean, for better or worse, after all this time – this is where we belong now."

"And the Buffy and Willow situation?" Cordelia asked, still feeling somewhat jealous about Anya.

Xander shrugged again. "I'll set up a memorial stone close by the lake for them, I guess. For them, and for everyone else we knew back then. Even if it's nearly four hundred years too late, it still feels like the right thing to do. It'll mean something, especially to me."

"And me," Cordelia admitted, causing Xander to look at her in surprise.

Their eyes met, and time seemingly stopped. For the briefest of moments, a wave of compassion, affection, and trust passed between them. With a start, Xander let go of the breath he hadn't even realized he'd been holding, as a strange shiver swept down the man's spine.

Taking him by surprise, Cordelia reached up and kissed Harris softly on the lips. It was utterly unlike any of the kisses they had shared before, either as teenagers or adults, which had been driven by an insistent – and oftentimes scary, and confusing – passion and desire.

This time, although such an undertone of fiery sensuality was definitely present, it was tempered by mutual care and hope, understanding and acceptance. All things which contained the foundations of real love, like that between a husband and wife.

Just as Xander was beginning to return Cordelia's kiss, though, she twisted out of his grasp, grinning impishly. She took his hand and pulled him along, "Come on, Xander, we can't stay here all day!"

"We can't?"

"Well, of course we can't," Cordelia nodded, still pulling her newly reclaimed boyfriend along. "I mean, what's the point? What's there to see and do here? It's 2374, so let's live a little! Go to San Francisco, maybe; I mean, it's been years and years since I've talked with the Academy gardener, Boothby..."

Xander quickly shut her up with another kiss, taking the woman into his arms and firmly plunging his lips onto hers. They stayed that way for what seemed like forever, before finally moving on from the past completely.

And as Q Junior watched them from within the Continuum, a look of smug pride and self-satisfaction appearing on his face, Q stared at his son in hopeless resignation and sighed wearily. In the way that parents of all teenagers everywhere did.

"Just what was all this supposed to accomplish, anyway?" Q asked waspishly.

"Examine the time stream," Q Junior replied haughtily. "You'll soon see what I've managed to engineer."

Using his foresight, Q scanned ahead twenty to thirty years into the future, and saw how the firstborn daughter of Xander and Cordelia would join together with the son of Jean-Luc Picard and Beverly Crusher – the son whose existence that he, Q, was indirectly responsible for. Something Q Junior had very subtly manipulated him into doing last year, without him even noticing it.

Grimacing and scanning even further ahead, Q foresaw how the secondborn child arising from that union would eventually have a massive effect on the entire Federation, becoming a major political figure that cited all four grandparents as significant influences in his life.

"You and Mother always used to tell me to be more...subtle with regards to the humans, Father," Q Junior said triumphantly. "So, how do you like the results of my plan?"

Q exhaled in exasperation, not bothering to answer the rhetorical question. Despite being somewhat impressed with the boy's efforts and skill, he knew his son would be almost impossible to deal with now; especially if, one day, Q Junior decided to further meddle in the lives of Xander and Cordelia's descendants.

The entire galaxy would most likely never be the same again!

The End


End file.
